Denise M. Grande

Denise Grande is the director of client services at Sheikh/Impact where she serves as a strategic thought partner and advisor to clients and staff, and oversees projects to ensure high-quality services are delivered.

Denise is a recognized systems-change leader with consistent success in building partnerships to better meet the needs of historically under-resourced communities. For over three decades, she has designed, developed, managed and scaled programs and initiatives via leadership positions in both non-profit and government, and in close collaboration with philanthropic partners. As director of arts education and youth development for the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture (formerly the LA County Arts Commission), she guided the work of the LA County Arts Education Collective - a public-private collective impact initiative dedicated to making the arts a core part of every child’s growth and development, in schools and in communities. Under her leadership, this robust coalition of advocates, practitioners and decision-makers grew to include over 150 community-based nonprofit organizations, 14 County agencies, 28 philanthropic partners, 75 school districts, five charter school networks and two advocacy organizations.

Denise also served as director of programs and strategic partnerships for the Metropolitan Opera Guild at Lincoln Center in New York, where she oversaw programming that served 160 schools across seven states, annually. During her 20 years at The Music Center in Los Angeles, she played a leadership role in arts education program design, implementation, research and evaluation.

Denise holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in dance from UCLA and was a Coro Fellow through the California Arts Council’s Arts Leadership Fellow Program. She has served as a board member for local, regional and statewide non-profit organizations, including the San Pedro City Ballet, Dance Resource Center of Greater Los Angeles and California Dance Educator’s Association.